Cameron wrote:
> The speckles are a sign of very coarse mixed clay, which has high
> porousity and acquires tea fragrance well. I'm not sure that I'll
> even bother with smooth clay from now on. It's more a matter of
> function than aesthetics for me. I wanted a black-dragon pot for my
> wulong.

The speckles are certainly a sign of coarser admixture, whether fired and
crushed clay "grog" or sand or something else. Rather less certain is their
effect, probably just another tea-myth propagated as advertising hype. I
would bet that there aren't a thousand people in China - if any! - who could
taste a difference due to such grains in otherwise similar pots. The
porosity difference from a 1~2% addition of material that doesn't even
bridge the wall thickness is not going to affect either retention of flavor
materials in the pot or "breathing" to any great degree. So I'd go for
aesthetics.

-DM
YMMV ( Your Mouthfeel May Vary)